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Topic Review (Newest First)

07-29-2008 10:02 AM

CharlieCobra

The jury's still out on glassing carvel planked boats as far as I'm concerned. Oh Joy was C-Flexed in '96 and has NO rot whatsoever in the hull from it. I think properly applied C-Flex is the only way to glass a planked hull, if it's done right. The only rot I have is two small sections of ribs from a freshwater incursion aft, which are simple fixes. No rot to any planking or anything else, anywhere on the boat.

07-28-2008 07:46 PM

hellosailor

And then again, fiberglassing a wood boat usually means either:
1-"It's too much work so keep up so I'm going to glass it over"
or
2-"I can't stop these leaks so I'll just glass it over"

Either way, a sign that the last owner did not get along with his boat, and there may be adventure$ ahead.

07-28-2008 05:25 PM

SteveCox

Glassing wood boats

A couple of points to keep in mind here. Fiberglassing of PLANKED boats is always a bad idea. It's not the breathing I'm worried about, it's that the wood will move and the glass not as much which leads to cracks in the glass which lets in water which causes rot...and so on. Fibergalssing of PLYWOOD boats is not a bad idea becuse you don't have the wood movement issue which gives a greater possibility of the glass layer staying intact. The other thing to keep in mind is that it matters what resin is used. Polyester resin has lousy adhesion to wood, ply or otherwise, and will at some point delam causing all sorts of problems. Epoxy on the other hand has very good adhesion to wood which iswhat you're seeing with cold molded boats, strip planked kayaks, etc. My boat has plywood topsides and decks covered with glass and you can really tell what was done originally with polyester and what was repaired with epoxy. The poly layer just rips off the ply while the epoxy pretty much pulls the wood apart before it will come up.

07-28-2008 03:19 PM

USCGRET1990

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveInMD

Coating wooden boats in a layer of "glass" was popular for a while. It turns out the glass ends up holding water inside up against the wood. The wood can no longer "breathe" and the boat ends up rotting out rather quickly.

AMEN!!!...Damn, I thought I was the only one that knew that...!!!
Thank You!!!!

07-28-2008 03:09 PM

mrhoneydew

"It is, but I prefer sailing to varnishing. "

I agree... I can stand a little bit of varnish here and there, but the demands of a wooden boat are a bit beyond my patience. I am just glad that others take on the challenge so I can reap the rewards as a spectator! ;o)

"Was this a wooden boat that was glassed over or was it built this way from the get-go?"

It was originally a wooden boat that was hauled out, sat to dry out for a year, and then was glassed over. The interior of the hull was stripped down, sanded, and epoxied over with a west marine epoxy as well. To me it's simply not worth the risk of having some unnoticed minor abrasion cause the hull to rot out leaving an egg shell of fiberglass for a hull. Bummer too... it could have been a sweet little boat.

07-28-2008 10:28 AM

Whampoa

Thanks. No doubt about it you gotta love it or it's not the way to go.

I appreciate the compliment.

Regards, John

07-28-2008 10:26 AM

sailingdog

Pretty boat.. But way too much woodwork for my tastes... unless I had someone to maintain the boat for me.

07-28-2008 10:21 AM

Whampoa

Just messing with you Dog !

We all have our passions, one of mine happens to be wooden boats. Another is sailing and one doesn't need wood to go sailing.

Have great day all, I'm off to the workshop to do a bit of varnish work on some new drop boards for the companionway.

Best Regards, John

07-28-2008 09:59 AM

sailingdog

Whampoa-

If you look at the times on my posts...many are at times most others would be sleeping.

As for boats and maintenance... all boats require maintenance... it is just that the type of maintenance and the skills required differ depending on the boat. Neglected or improperly maintained boats require even more work. A properly maintained and cared for fiberglass boat won't generally ever have a wet and delaminating deck core. Proper installation and maintenance heads off almost any of the serious repair jobs—like leaking ports and wet cores.

07-28-2008 08:27 AM

Whampoa

With the money I save on bottoms peels, wax jobs, having the ss rails polished, replacing wet cored deck, sealing leaking ports, etc the "woodie" is affordable. Systems wise, wooden boats have a lot of the same things like diesels, and water tanks and fuel tanks and radios and stoves. Really. Not a lot of difference there.

SD I would offer that the annual varnish work does cut into my "post" time but doesn't impact my sailing time appreciably. With your post count you must miss your sailing time .

No doubt that a wooden boat requires care and maintenance. Let em go and they will fall to disrepair like so many things. Visit more than one boat yard and you will find no shortage of boats that have not had the proper care over their lives. Sad to see whether they are wood, glass, steel, or paper mache .

Built in 1962, Whampoa is still strong and sound and I predict she has a few more years left in her. But as I said in my earlier post, they are clearly not everyone's cup of tea. I'm enjoying my custodianship immensely.

Good luck in your search.

Best Regards, John

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